International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD - Free Report) by 17,072.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,760 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,313 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned 0.13% of Woodward worth $13,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Woodward by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,835,915 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $899,431,000 after acquiring an additional 77,654 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Woodward by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,380,384 shares of the technology company's stock worth $240,711,000 after purchasing an additional 34,946 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Woodward by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 634,698 shares of the technology company's stock worth $110,679,000 after purchasing an additional 74,734 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Woodward by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,496 shares of the technology company's stock worth $94,426,000 after purchasing an additional 16,083 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Woodward by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 434,385 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $75,735,000 after buying an additional 210,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.18% of the company's stock.

Woodward Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ WWD traded down $1.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $164.09. 327,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 415,921. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37. Woodward, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.82 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $165.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $847.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.29 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 11.47%. Woodward's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that Woodward, Inc. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Woodward's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WWD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Woodward from $228.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Woodward from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Woodward from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Woodward Profile

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.